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Hi my daughter is 12 years old and has cf , in the last year she seems to be contracting and growing mrsa on her cough swabs.
The first time this happened was about a year ago and she was treated with a two week course on the antibiotic-RIFAMPICIN and a body wash and nasel spray which she used for 5 days.
10 months later she grew mrsa again on a cough swab and was prescribed a 2 week course of DOXYCYCLIN AND FUCIDIC ACID, no body wash and no nasel spray- this was something that i questioned at the time, knowing how and where mrsa lives.
We also as a family had our selfs checked for mrsa and the tests came back negative.
Then again three weeks ago her cough swab tested positive for mrsa and she has been prescribed the DOXYCYCLIN AND FUCIDIC ACID, with no body wash and nasel spray.
I have decided to ask for a second opinion now, on the type of anitbiotic being prescribed and the fact that there is no body wash and nasel spray.
When she had the first prescription RIFAMPICIN plus body wash she seemed to get rid of the mrsa.
I realise that the mrsa bug this time has been decribed as being resistant to RIFAMPICIN. but seeing as the mrsa has returned so quicky I am doubtful about her having DOXYCYCLINE and FUCIDIC ACID minus a body wash again and it being effective. She also had to have a blood test at the begining and the end of the DOXYCYCLIN AND FUCIDIC ACID to monitor her liver function.
The results of this test were, that her liver function on those antibiotics was fine.
However it has been made apparent that they are a heavy course of antibiotics which i would personally like to avoid giving her if it is not looking like it's is getting rid of the mrsa.
Can you suggest any other effective antibiotics and do you think she should be having a body wash and nasel spray?.
I feel that really the whole family should be having a body wash whilst she is on the antibiots to prevent a cycle of colonisation, which is what i think we may have happening.
I am also keen for the family to do cough swabs to see if we are carrying it in our lungs after reading the article below which i found on this site.
Question
If a CF patient is culturing MRSA, how high is the risk of transmitting MRSA to a partner(without cf) through kissing and sexual activity?
Answer
Dear Questioner
Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria that is commonly found living on the body surfaces of many people- it can colonize the nose, throat, armpits and other body areas without causing disease. In recent years, S.aureus has been identified which is resistant to many types of antibiotics which would commonly be used to treat infections, and this is called Meticillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA). MRSA is found only rarely among people in outside hospitals- however, it can spread rapidly within healthcare settings or in cases where people live and have close contact with each other. In most cases, acquiring MRSA probably won’t result in disease in that individual. However, if the person has a wound, or other skin breaks, or has an underlying medical condition that might make them more likely to pick up infections, it could cause a serious infection.
It is possible for people who have MRSA (CF or non-CF) to pass it to household contacts or to people with whom they have close contact- even pets!- and recent studies have suggested that MRSA can be spread from the respiratory tract by coughing, sneezing and kissing. Partners of people with MRSA are at increased risk of transmission, probably because of increased bodily contact1. However, unless those contacts have a medical condition, its not likely that they would develop an infection but there is a chance that they become colonized with MRSA. This colonization may well be short-lived, but might be long enough to pass it back to the person with CF- this is particularly a problem if the person with CF is undergoing decolonization (i.e. a course of antibiotics designed to get rid of the MRSA).
In order to avoid a cycle of colonization being established, it would be important to consider some important, but simple, infection control measures2. Regular showering using a medicated wash, containing chlorhexidine and handwashing, particularly after coughing or sneezing, by all household contacts may reduce the risk of colonization- alcohol based hand rubs may be particularly useful in this case. In addition, regular changing of bed linen and bed clothes may cut down the risk of MRSA spread.
Also can you tell me what effect the mrsa in my daughters lungs has on her health and particularly on her lung health?
.It seems there are no real answers, and it is all a bit of a stab in the dark.
Obviously I would like to irradicate the mrsa, but i would like to go about it effectively avoiding intravenous antibiotics.
As we have been able to avoid these so far and her health is good.
Many thanks.
Kind regards and i look forward to your reply.

I have an 11 year old daughter with CF and we live in Abu Dhabi, UAE, but we may come to live in Athens, I am worried about the air pollution, we will be living in the hills outside Athens.
Also Gala has just started to take Ivacaftor as she has the G551 mutation, is this going to be available to her in Athens?
thanks for your help
J.

My husband and I just found out through gene sequencing that I am a carrier of deltaF508 and he is a carrier of 5T. He testing negative in every way except the 5t. What are the odds of our children having CF? To me the odds aren't clear, our councilor says they could have a "mild" form of CF or infertility in a male.
Thank you

I am a mother to a girl with F508del/CFTRdele2,3 (21kb) mutations. She was diagnosed at 2 months old. Now she is 5 and doing very well. Only 2 lung infections, no P.a cultured. Still I am concerned as I read both of the mutations are clasified as "severe". Does it mean that the progress of the desease may be faster, harder? Can you tell how sensitive is she to culture CF bacteria (like P.a.)? Thank you in advance.

My 3 and half old son suffer of often breathing infects and long lasting cough.Usually dry cough time to time moist cough. Is possible to have CF when he went through a neonatal screening on CF in 2010 and chlorid swap test two years ago?. Both with negative results.our doctor advices to do chlorid test again. The result of the test was 20. Thanks

About 12 years ago it was found that i had full blown CF according to my bloods but i've never had any symptoms - this was found as i was trying to do egg donation.
I am now wondering if this is common or whether it is rare and somebody may be interested in it? Both my parents were then tested and found to be carriers obvioulsy. My brother has not been tested.
Many thanks
Valerie

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